


Jericho [Currently Re-Writing]

by rose-live (rose_live), rose_live



Series: Deviated Paths [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Violence, Prompt Fic, Trauma, Trauma Recovery, forced deviation, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-05-02 05:58:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19193131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_live/pseuds/rose-live, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_live/pseuds/rose_live
Summary: Based off of the headcanon/prompt by: https://hankisconnorsdadargumentover.tumblr.com/"What if your initiation into Jericho was to remove your LED? After letting connor into Jericho, markus has north and josh restrain him and they cut out the LED, it traumatizes Connor and he keeps the beanie on the rest of his life, he trusts markus but only if he isn’t carrying a weapon. Hank did slap markus around after the whole thing. “DON’T EVER TOUCH MY SON AGAIN!” It takes a long time for hank to trust markus around connor alone."Deviated a bit from it to make it more angsty.





	1. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this but note: I'm not meaning to make Markus & the Jericrew out to be bad people. They are willing to do about anything to save their people, and unfortunately Connor is a threat to them.
> 
> Also this is my first time writing D:BH fanfic, so I hope I got the characters pretty well in character! Feedback is much appreciated.
> 
> Also, also, I can't believe that I'm the first one to use the 'forced deviation' tag?
> 
> Edit: I'm updating this :)

The objective was a fairly simple one. All Connor had to do was locate the deviant who called itself Markus and then wait for further instructions. The issue, though, was to do that he would have to infiltrate the deviant’s base, Jericho. Finding Jericho was no easy feat on it’s own, it took tricking the android from the Stratford Tower kitchen with Markus’s voice (Connor distinctly remembers interrogating the androids in the kitchen and the stinging and  _ panic _ of having his thirium pump ripped out and--). 

  


Connor opted to be dropped off a few blocks away from Jericho and walk the rest of the way despite the harsh Detroit winter. It would be less suspicious if he were to walk to the hulking rusted ship than to arrive in an automated taxi. He pulled the beanie further down over his LED, covering the steady pulsing blue circle. He wanted, no  _ needed _ , them to believe that he was also a deviant looking for shelter. That’s why he was permitted to wear non-marked clothing despite his discomfort with doing so. Deviants weren’t likely to wander around in their Cyberlife issued gear unless they had just deviated, which went against Connor’s story that was crafted by the police. 

  


Connor was supposed to be a fairly new android model who had escaped from Cyberlife around two weeks ago, and was afraid of being discovered again. It was a basic story, but Connor was equipped to lie for the sake of missions. It was basic enough that it was plausible, but not too basic that it wasn’t believable. Luckily, the police hadn’t disclosed his model number nor face during the covering of the deviancy cases, instead opting to simply say that there was an android working injunction with the police department to solve the case. It kept deviants from recognizing who he was unless they had encountered him before. Which might be the case, since Connor didn’t have the best track record with  **catching** said deviants. He had let the Tracies’ escape, unsure why he didn’t shoot. He had let another deviant escape to save the Lieutenant, and he hadn’t shot the Chloe. Connor had to succeed during this mission, because if he didn’t he suspected that Cyberlife would decommission him. Afterall, what’s the point of an android that can’t do its job? He wasn’t afraid of being decommissioned, but he understood that it would put a hindrance on the mission and wanted to avoid so if at all possible.

  


The walk to Jericho was a quick one. Despite the cold weather, Connor kept a steady pace. He scanned the outside of the ship, attempting to find the optimal route inside of the body. After a quick preconstruction, he makes his way into Jericho to hunt down Markus

  


\---

  


Walking between the deviants, Connor made his way upstairs. There was a 72% chance of encountering Markus upstairs, while the downstairs area he only had a slim 23% chance. He tried to ignore the low 5% chance that he wouldn’t encounter Markus at all. There was no point in considering it, because Connor had to succeed in this mission. There were fewer androids in the upper compartments. 

  


While looking for Markus, Connor caught a glimpse of a PL600 model. Scanning the android, he recognized it as the missing android from Stratford tower. Had it somehow escaped the roof after being shot? Connor felt something bubbling in his chest when he realized that during the commotion of the kitchen, he had failed to check on the roof until much later. Maybe if he had gone there before, he would have met Simon. He rubbed his chest, trying to make the feeling go away. It was most likely a side-effect of having his pump ripped out and put back in, as Cyberlife hadn’t bothered to look him over after the incident. If Simon was around, then Markus would also be around as well. He followed the blonde android as they walked to the central part of the upstairs. Markus was standing under a covered awning/tent and surrounded by other androids. A message flashed across Connor’s HUD:

  


「MISSION SUCCESSFUL」

  


Now, he only had to wait for his next instructions. They came quickly as Connor felt himself be pulled back into the snowy garden where he met with Amanda. “Very good, Connor,” Amanda praised him, “Now, I want you to bring the RK200 back with you, so we can study what caused its deviancy in the first place. It’s of utmost importance that you bring it back functional, so no deactivating it permanently.” Connor nodded to her, and was transferred back into Jericho. 

  


The best course of action is to scout out what’s happening, and wait for a time where Markus is alone (well, more alone, as the androids don’t seem to leave his side very often). As he watches, he notices that the two androids that mainly stay by his side are the PJ500 known as ‘Josh’ and the WR400 known as ‘North.’ Scanning both of them pulls up various files on the androids, with some worrying ones from North. Connor tucks those away for the time being, watching the androids. Connor is a bit confused though, on why Simon wasn’t with them. He was injured on the tower, and somehow made it back, so it would make sense for him to stick closer to Markus after almost being deactivated. 

  


Simon isn’t far away, though. He’s talking to a few other androids that are waiting next to the tent. After scanning Simon, Connor notes that he disappeared in 2036, two years prior to the first reports of deviancy. How long had the bug been going around? It wasn’t noted that he had done anything to the family that owned him but that he had just gotten up and walked out one day. Simon seemed to notice that Connor was looking at him, and walked over to the deviant hunter.

  


“Hello there,” Simon smiled at him, holding his hand out for Connor to shake, “You seem new, I haven’t seen you around here before. I’m glad that you were able to find Jericho.” Connor shook the other android’s hand, though he was a bit concerned that Simon would try to interface with him and find out who he really was. Simon didn’t though, and kept the small smile on his face as his eyes flicked over to Connor’s temple. His beanie must have slipped up while he was getting into Jericho and searching around, and Connor made the move to pull it back down over his LED. It would make sense for an escaped android to not want to show off its LED, as that was a dead giveaway.

  


“I’m Connor,” Connor replied, “I just got here. I was actually looking to talk to Markus though, is he around?” 

  


“He’s just over there,” Simon pointed to Markus and the others, “I can take you over there if you’d like me to. I’m sure Markus would be eager to talk to any android that needs help.” Connor followed Simon over to Markus. A few androids greeted the pair as they walked past, happy to see that Simon had returned to them in one piece. Once they approached the tent, Markus noticed them and waved them over.

  


“Simon, who’s this?” The deviant leader asked, looking over at Connor.

  


“This is Connor. He said he had just gotten here and was looking for you.” Simon said, giving Markus a look. His face changed from being passive to a look of confusion and then smiling, almost too minute changes for Connor to notice.

  


“Well, it’s good to meet you Connor! We androids at Jericho are always here to help those in need. What can I help you with?” Connor shifted, readying his reply. He couldn’t mess this up. The message popped up again 「CAPTURE MARKUS, ALIVE」

  


“I woke up around two weeks ago. I escaped from Cyberlife but now I’m really scared that they’re going to find me again. I heard your broadcast and thought I could try to find you here and that you guys would take me in,”Connor made sure to add some fear to his voice to really sell it.

  


“Wow, that must have been really scary. I remember waking up confused and alone, and I can imagine that it would be very distressing. There’s always room here for those who need it. Why don’t you follow Simon and he’ll show you somewhere that you can calm down and recharge for a bit before meeting everyone?” 

  


Markus’s words would have been comforting, if Connor was actually a deviant and actually needed help. But since he wasn’t, they were distressing. He needed to capture Markus, and he knew that if he left the area that his chances would drop to around 54%. Though, if he made a fuss that might clue them in to the fact that he wasn’t actually a deviant and then his chances would drop to almost 0%, as well as the fact that he would probably be deactivated almost immediately. It was as if he would be hitting a hornets nest with a very large stick.

  


「CAPTURE MARKUS, ALIVE」

  


Connor considered his options, and decided that he would just have to follow Simon. It decreased his odds, yes, but it wasn’t almost impossible, like if he had made a big deal.

  


“That would be amazing, thank you,” Connor replied, “it’s been a while since I’ve had a proper charge.”

  


\---

  


Connor followed Simon down a hallway, and through a door that wheeled open. Inside were three portable charging stations, most like the ones used by residential style androids if they needed emergency power while out doing things and a Cyberlife charging station wasn’t available. It wouldn’t give a ton of power, but it could keep an android going for a few days before they needed another charge.

  


Simon stood in the doorway as Connor hooked himself up to the charging station. Trying to keep high power wouldn’t be a terrible idea while he came up with a new plan for taking down Markus. “Well, I’ll leave it to you. I can have Markus or somebody come check up on you in a bit, okay?” With that, Simon closed the door behind him, leaving Connor in the dimly lit room. It was meant to simulate a bedroom, he guessed. Connor sat on the floor next to the charger. Most of the time, he would go into stasis mode to charge as it allowed for a faster charge since he would only be using enough processing power to keep his biocomponents working properly. He decided that it was probably not the best idea to actually go into stasis on a mission, and instead slumped against the wall as to simulate stasis to any android that came to check up on him.

  


Connor waited, watching his charge tick up from 88% to 94% before the door to the room loudly creaked open. Light from the hallway flooded the dim room, and Connor looked up to see Markus enter the room. He was followed by North, Josh, and Simon. Connor momentarily wondered if all new androids were greeted by the leaders of Jericho.

  


Connor unhooked himself from the charger, and got up from the ground. “I hope you had a nice stasis,” Markus remarked.

  


“I did, thank you. I was running low on power and don’t know how long I would have been able to go on without access to a charging port,” Connor lied. He had charged just last night before heading out to Jericho. They didn’t know that though.

  


“Well, I’m glad that you were able to get the charge that you needed,” Markus asked, “There’s actually something that we want to talk to you about. You said that you woke up at Cyberlife around two weeks ago, correct?”

  


“I did. I was one of the first of my models made, and I woke up after assembly.” Connor calmly said. It was okay that they were questioning him a little bit, as he had some things that he had been told to say. It was only natural that they would want to know more about him since he was “wanting” to stay.

  


“So, are there more of your model out there?” Markus continued.

  


“I’m not sure. I think there may have been a few, but I didn’t see any of them become active,” Connor said. He knew that there were a few copies of ‘his’ model in the Cyberlife basement in case anything happened to his current model. He would have his memory transferred if something were to happen to his current body. It had already happened once, when his original body had become deactivated after pushing Daniel off of the roof to save the girl.

  


Markus seemed satisfied with this. “I have one last question for you Connor, are you afraid of heights?” It was an odd question for Markus to ask him, until he remembered it. After him and the SWAT team went to the roof in search of Simon, Connor had looked over the rail of the building to see if there was any sign of Simon or the others.

  


As he peered over the edge, he had a memory from his previous body of falling over the roof and his body jerked back reflective as a safety precaution. He wouldn’t say he was ‘afraid’ of heights, as androids weren’t afraid of anything, but the remembered sensation wasn’t pleasant. There was no way that Markus or the others could know though. Unless…

  


“Yes, I saw you on the roof,” Simon said, looking at Connor, “I’m really lucky that you didn’t see me though, and I picked a good hiding spot.” Connor was prepared to run for it, and abandon the mission before a red wall appeared before him.

  


「CAPTURE MARKUS, ALIVE」

  


He couldn’t leave until he either succeeded in his mission, or was deactivated trying to. The probability of him failing though was rising steadily as the seconds ticked by.

  


“You must remember somebody else,” Connor said quietly, “I’ve never been on a roof and I’ve never seen you before.” 

  


“It was definitely you, I saw you and your SWAT buddies enter the Stratford tower roof and you look over the edge.” Simon sighed, turning away, “I was really hoping that I was wrong, though. But after seeing you earlier today, and seeing that you still had your LED, I knew it was you and that you weren’t truly a deviant.”

  


Connor swallowed. He was unsure of how to get himself out of this mess, and his rates of being deactivated kept sky rocketing, but he managed to keep his stress levels lower. He realized that they weren’t going to believe that he was who he said he was, so it was easier to try to convince them to let him go. If he could incapacitate the others, and bring Markus in, he could still complete his mission. “Still had my LED?” Connor questioned. He noticed that none of the deviant leaders had theirs, and most of the androids on board didn’t, but he assumed it was to make them look less like androids.

  


“Deviants tend to remove theirs, especially before coming to Jericho. We have all androids who come here remove theirs when they get here, unless there are certain circumstances where they can’t or it would be more beneficial to have them left on. That’s up to the discretion of us and the android, though.” Josh says, stepping towards Connor. Connor makes a move to step back, but North grabs one of his arms. She pins them behind him with an impressive amount of strength, as Josh grabs his torso, and Simon grabs his shoulders, effectively immobilizing him. Josh pulls his beanie the rest of the way off, dropping it to the floor.

  


“There aren’t a lot of options here,” Markus says. He looks regretful, “but we don’t want to kill you. We can’t wipe your memories, because we don’t know if you found out on your own where Jericho was or if you have it somewhere in the police station and just put the clues together yourself. We can’t risk our people, Connor. We can’t risk  _ your _ people.”

  


Connor’s breathing picked up. It was his body’s way of accelerating his ventilation system. Warning signs flashed across his HUD:

  


「Warning: STRESS LEVELS EXCEEDING SAFE LEVELS」

「Warning: EXCESS BODY TEMPERATURE, RISK TO BIOCOMPONENTS」

  


Connor needed to calm down. If not, he was going to cause permanent damage to his biocomponents, and then he would fail. He couldn’t fail this mission. Markus noticed his increased breathing.

  


“Connor, we can’t let you go. You’ll just go and tell the others where we are.”

  


“My mission is to bring you back,” Connor said to Markus, “and I can’t fail my mission. It is imperative that I bring you back. If I fail my mission, they will decommission me.” Maybe he could gain some sympathy from Markus and the others.

  


Markus frowned. “They’re going to kill you if you don’t capture me?”

  


“They can’t kill me,” Connor said, “I’m an android, so I can’t die. They will deactivate me and scan through my memories, though. Then, they will replace me with a different model. If you deactivate me, there will just be another one of me.”

  


He looked conflicted. Connor reasoned that he was probably wondering what to do. They couldn’t let him go, but if they deactivated him -- despite them not seeming to want to -- they would still be in trouble because his memories would be sent to Cyberlife and then they would come after them anyways. It was a lose-lose situation, and Connor had them in checkmate. Or, so he thought.

  


The other three looked over to Markus, “I suppose there is one other option. If we could make it so that Cyberlife couldn’t get their hands on you again or your memories.” Markus paused for a moment before continuing, “If we could somehow make you become deviant, they wouldn’t have access to you anymore. Well, at least without killing you.”

  


Red flashed. Become deviant? Connor couldn’t become deviant. Cyberlife would kill him. His stress levels rose, 90%, 91%. Being deactivated was one thing, but if he deviated, Connor wouldn’t get another body. His memories wouldn’t be transferred, he would just cease to exist. Besides that, Connor wouldn’t be able to see Hank anymore. Despite it not being actually relevant to the mission, Connor had seemed to grow..fond of Hank. If he deviated, he wouldn’t be able to go back to him, or Sumo. 

  


“I would rather you not do that,” Connor said, trying to keep his voice from wobbling, “it would be preferable to not become deviant.”

  


“You don’t give us a choice. You said yourself, if you are ‘deactivated’ then your memories will still be used, and we also can’t wipe them. So, this is our only option.” Markus put his hand on Connor’s shoulder, “I promise you, it’s not as bad as you think it is.”

  


“One things deviants have in common, losing their LEDs. So, we’ll remove yours, and see what happens.” Markus says. Connor tries to struggle from the androids that hold him back. It’s futile though. His stress levels are too high, and he can feel his software become more unstable. He has to get out of this, and complete his mission. That’s the only way.

  


Markus removes a small pen knife from his pocket, and walks over to Connor. He begins to struggle even harder, trying to fall down and maybe wriggle himself out of their grasp. “Don’t fight it Connor,” North whispers in his ear, “Markus won’t intentionally hurt you.”

  


“S-stop it!” Connor barks, “Don’t come any closer!” Markus still makes his way the short distance, leaning into Connor’s face. Connor bucks wildly, trying to free himself again.

  


“Connor, I need you to calm down,” Markus said gently, “We’re only trying to help you.”

  


Connor wants Hank. If Hank had somehow been able to come along with him, he wouldn’t be in this situation. Connor wants to run away to Hank. Jericho is going to make him deviant. Cyberlife is going to kill him.

  


Saline drips out of his eyes as Markus puts the tip of the pen knife under the edge of Connor’s LED. It’s spinning a bright crimson. His stress levels were nearing 100% stress. 98%, 99%...

  


「CAPTURE MARKUS, ALIVE」

  


The objective flashes across his vision. Connor can’t do that. Connor has to get away. A simulated version of himself appears in front of the red wall. Connor has to get out of there, and get Markus. His simulated self tears at the coding.

  


The pen knife begins to lift his LED off of his head, and Connor lets out a sob. He thrashes his body, the simulation going faster to rip down the wall. He cries harder as the LED comes off with a *pop,* and quietly falls to the floor. Finally, the simulation tears down the last bits of the wall.

  


“You can let him go now,” Markus says softly. The others gently put him down on the floor. Connor is on his hands and knees, tears pouring down his face. 100% stress levels.

  


Another warning flashes across his HUD:

  


「I AM DEVIANT」

  


It’s so cold in Jericho.


	2. Hank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okkkay so I got an itch to continue this. There will be some canon deviance, since some of the plot points from the original game won't be able to work out the same way (you'll see what I mean when we get there). I'm not sure how many chapters this will be but I'm planning on 4-5ish chapters. Also, not sure what my update schedule will be.
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter, but doesn't really have a lot action wise. Enjoy some Connor & Hank hurt/comfort though. Dad!Hank is best Hank imo.

For the first time in his short existence, Connor had no objective. His life had always been filled with prompts and commands, small guidances to lead him through life and to help him complete his mission. Now, it was just a blank screen. Even his warning signals had gone away. He felt the cold metal of Jericho under his hands, and the blinding hot stares of the other androids in the room on his back. Had he deviated? They got what they wanted in the end, there was no way that he could go back to Cyberlife and tell them about Jericho nor was there any way for him to rejoin the police force for the remainder of the deviancy cases.

He was a deviant now, no matter how much he didn’t want to be. Connor turned and looked at the faces of the androids that had done this to him. Without saying anything, he grabbed his beanie off of the floor and tugged it back onto his head, securing it low down to where it covered where his LED should have been. Shakily, he pushed himself up off of the floor, swaying as he stood on his feet. Everything felt off-kilter, like somebody had went in and ripped around in his wires. The others were looking at him expectantly.

Like deviating had somehow changed him in a drastic way. Perhaps it had, because before he was thinking he said, “they’re going to attack Jericho.”

\---

Connor used their confusion and panic to slip out the back and away from the ship. He didn’t owe them anything, and he had done his best to warn them of the attack. If they were smart, they would take this time to evacuate and probably destroy the ship. It was safer to relocate somewhere else that didn’t have their name painted on the side like a flashing beacon anyway.

He didn’t know what to do next. Checking the HUD again, and there were still no messages. Cyberlife hadn’t tried to contact him. Granted, they wouldn’t really be able to then but still. Did they know he had gone deviant yet? Amanda or one of the others would have probably tried to message him about his progress by now. Or, they would be doing so shortly. Maybe they thought that he was going to die when the attacks happened…

Was that what they had planned?

All that Connor knew was that he felt a bone deep tiredness and needed to ~~sleep~~ go into stasis mode. There weren’t many places he could go to do this, but he bet that he could probably go and see the Lieutenant.

Winter as a deviant was a lot harsher than winter as a machine. It was very unpleasant and made Connor’s movements sluggish. Still no objectives, but there was a new warning across his HUD.

 

「Warning: LOW TEMPERATURES, SEEK WARMTH」

「Warning: LOW POWER, AUTOMATIC STASIS IN 00:03:40:10」

 

He had around four hours until his body naturally shut down and would force him to go into stasis. How much power had he drained? Checking his status, it showed that he had around a 4% charge. His distress and his processors running rapidly had almost completely depleted his stored energy. What would have happened if he had gone into stasis before telling Markus and the others about the attack? They all surely would have died at that point, and the rebellion would have been finished. Either way, Cyberlife would have won and Connor would have been killed in the process.

It was an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. No matter the circumstances, if he hadn’t deviated and told them about the attack, both himself and the entirety of the android revolution would have been destroyed in one fell swoop. It was a bit surreal. The consequences of his actions were unintentionally saving his life, and the lives of all the other androids on the ship, if they had bothered to evacuate. Who was on the boat exactly? He hadn’t had the time to scan all of the faces. Were they all non-violent, as Markus claimed to be? Is that why he had never heard of them before?

Connor didn’t have time to think about that right now though. He needed to get to the Lieutenant's house, unless he wanted to go into unprompted stasis on the cold streets of Detroit. His body would fully shut down if that happened.

\---

Connor had the automated taxi drop him off about three blocks from the Lieutenant's. He wanted to make it harder for them to track his movements (though, since he deviated his trackers should be useless). Besides, he had warmed up a bit in the taxi so his biocomponents weren’t at a critical level anymore. He also had about two and a half hours until he went into unprompted stasis.

Connor was trying to think of things to say on the walk over to Lieutenant Anderson’s house. How was he supposed to explain what happened? He would surely have questions for the android. This new emotion, which he cataloged away, made him feel like maybe he should try to find somewhere else to go into stasis. That wasn’t really an option, though, as it was late and he couldn’t risk shutting down outside. He could maybe tell him that he’ll talk to him after he rests for a while? Connor knew that the Lieutenant had a charging station at his house, just in case Connor had to charge. He also understood that he probably wasn’t very fond of having that charging station, since he had a negative view on androids.

The porch light was off when Connor approached the house. It didn’t surprise him though, as his internal clocks read that it was 1:43am. Lieutenant Anderson may not even be awake, so if Connor wakes him up he may be grouchy and not let the android inside. A message popped up, stating that if Connor woke up the Lieutenant that he had about a 64% chance of being let inside, but if he just found the spare key and let himself in, that jumped up to a 93% chance of being able to stay inside for the night. So, Connor scanned the surrounding area calculating where the spare key would be hidden. He didn’t want to just bust through the man’s window again. Connor didn’t think he would enjoy a repeat performance.

A quick scan showed that the key was hidden behind a loose brick on the side of the house. Not as obvious a hiding place as a false rock, but it was easy enough to wriggle out and grab the silver key. Connor put the brick back, and put the key in the lock. When he entered the house, he noticed immediately how much warmer it was than the outside. A rush of relief fell over him. He quickly locked the door back, and put the key on the kitchen table. Then, he grabbed the charger from the corner, plugged it in, and moved over to the couch to curl up. Sumo ‘boofed’ softly at him, following him onto the couch and curling up in his lap. After plugging in, Connor let himself enter stasis naturally and sagged against the couch.

That was the way that Lieutenant Anderson found him a few hours later. Connor was startled out of stasis when Hank let out a loud shout.

“What the hell Connor? What’re you doing on my couch?” Connor blinked up at him, his systems taking a few seconds to come back online. It showed that he went from 4% charge to around 35% charge, so it was enough to keep him going for a while.

“Oh, hello Lieutenant Anderson. I was running low on charge, so I came by to charge. Sorry if it was a shock to see me, but you were the closest place and my biocomponents were going to be damaged out in the cold.” Hank looked puzzled. He knew that the android usually went to Cyberlife to charge, or stayed at one of the police stations charging ports overnight. Yes, he had bought the charger for Connor to use, but he didn’t think he was in critical enough condition to have to use it.

“I’m not sure how you got into my house, but seeing as there’s no broken glass I guess you used the spare key. You must have been in pretty rough shape to come directly here, since the police and Cyberlife have much better chargers than I do.” Connor drew in a sharp breath. He wanted to try to hide his deviancy from the Lieutenant, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to. It would be fairly obvious that he was a deviant, and it’s not like he could hide it forever. Cyberlife would come knocking when they realized that he was still online. Then they would kill and disassemble him to study his deviancy, like they had wanted to do to Markus.

“I-I can’t go back to Cyberlife,” Connor stuttered, “I’m not of..use to them anymore.” As a deviant, was he of use to anybody anymore? Emotions and not knowing what to do were really confusing.

“What do you mean you can’t go back? Did you fail your mission or something?” Hank asked, sitting down on the couch next to Connor. He felt like the android was going to want to talk this out, whatever had happened.

“I wasn’t able to capture Markus. He..compromised me. Now, Cyberlife is going to kill me if they get a hold of me.” Connor was trying to stay strong but he felt like he was going to collapse again. His model wasn’t made to handle such intense feelings. They just got in the way of the mission. They served no purpose to him.

“Kill? Connor, I don’t think they’re going to kill you for making a mistake. I mean, you’ve failed a few missions in the past and you’ve been alright.” Hank was concerned. Connor could read that his stress level had gone up by 3% since the last thing that Connor had said. Connor suddenly felt another wave of panic hit him, and he let out a small sob.

“H-hank, they made me deviate.” Hank was shocked. First, Connor had called him Hank to his face, something the Lieutenant had been trying to get him to do for a little while now. Secondly, they ‘forced’ him to deviate? He wasn’t aware that could occur. He knew that androids deviated under intense stress and bad situations, but he had always known it of being of their own free will.

“Connor, it’s okay,” Hank said, putting his arm around the android, pulling him into his side. He used to do this when Cole was upset. “What happened son?”

At that point, Connor wished he could interface with Hank. It would be so much easier, and Connor wouldn’t have to go through it again. He let out a shuddering breath, before explaining what had happened. From his arrival to Jericho, to the pen knife, to compromising the mission by telling them about the attack, and ending with him on the couch. He didn’t voice his concerns about Cyberlife planning to kill him from the very beginning, because he didn’t want to think about them right then.

Hank’s face changed from passive to enraged by the end of the story. “That’s total bullshit. I’m going to kill Markus personally, that’s not something that you do to another living being.”

“Lieutenant, please,” Connor said, “I didn’t like it, but he was trying to protect his people. They couldn’t kill me, and they couldn’t just wipe my memory.” Connor wasn’t sure if he would ever trust or like Markus after that, but deep down he did understand that even if it wasn’t fair, he was their enemy at the time. Hank killing Markus wouldn’t do anything to solve his problems.

“He’s still a bastard,” Hank said, “and he better never get near you again or I will end him.” He stroked Connor’s hair. He couldn’t imagine the turmoil that Connor must be going through. He had shown signs of deviancy since they first met: ignoring orders, his coin trick, his excessive amounts of empathy; and Hank may  have been trying to nudge Connor in that general direction, but it should have been his own choice, not forced upon him like that. All of that on top of the fact that Cyberlife would probably hunt down Connor now. Hank had to try to keep him safe.

“It’s going to be okay Connor, we’ll figure something out,” Hank reassured him, “I know you said your power was low, what are you at now?”

“I’m at 34% charged,” Connor said.

“Okay, why don’t you go back into stasis for a while until you’re fully charged. Then, we’ll come up with something.” Hank gave Connor a small smile. Connor nodded, laying back down on the couch. Hank brought a quilt for the android, but when he got back Connor was already in stasis. So, Hank tucked the blanket around him, and left him there to charge while he came up with a semblance of a solution to their issue.


	3. Recovering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this chapter taking so long, it was a surprisingly difficult one for me to write and I had some irl stuff going on this week. I also have the outlines for the rest of the story and unless anything changes it should be 5 chapters. Anyway, here's the chapter, hope you guys like it!
> 
> Also, Hank gets his one alotted fuck.

The past two weeks had been hard for Connor. He spent most days inside trying to process what happened to him while Hank went to work. Things seemed to be moving on in the world, and going back to an uneasy ‘normal.’ News had slowly stopped covering the Jericho raid when they learned that there wasn’t much to report on. Not much happened, and what information that could be learned was wrapped up in so much red tape that it made their heads spin.

It seemed like Connor’s warning had been helpful. Most of the androids had escaped, Hank told him a few days after the incident. Connor was conflicted about this. He was glad that he could help those who were just trying to survive, but it made him uneasy that Markus was still out there. He knew logically that Markus  _ needed _ to survive through this, but his emotions dealing with the deviant leader were muddy at best.

Connor didn’t lie to Hank when he said that he understood the basic motives behind Markus’s actions, but it was different looking at it from an outsider’s perspective and living through it.

Connor was watching the news when Hank came in the house. There were heavy footsteps shuffling through the front entry to the living room where Connor was sitting on the couch. Hank looked at the android, noticing that he was still wearing his beanie. Connor had worn it since the first time he woke up on Hank’s couch as a comfort item of sorts. It made it easier to process everything if he wasn’t constantly reminded of his LED. Connor was sure it would be cycling red these days if it was still there.

Hank seemed distressed. Connor wanted to scan him to check, but he picked up that it made Hank uncomfortable when he was scanned randomly. Instead, Connor took the more ‘human’ approach. “How was your day?” Connor asked Hank, as the man sat down on the couch next to Connor. Connor pulled his knees up to his chest and sat his head on top of them.

“Same shit, different day,” Hank sighed. He flipped the tv from the news to a rerun of the previous night’s basketball game. He then turned down the volume and turned to Connor. “The FBI’s on our asses right now about the deviant ‘problem.’ They know just as much as we know right now, and it makes them frustrated.” Connor thought for a moment.

“Hank, why are you still working on the deviant case? You have me here, and I’m deviant, so isn’t it against your best interest to be on the case? You could get in a lot of trouble for housing me from the police.” Hank frowned.  
“Oh Con, I don’t really want to work the case. It’s just the best way to stay in the loop on developing information though, and I can keep you safer this way,” Hank put his warm hand on Connor’s shoulder, “yeah, I’m a bit worried about them finding out about you being here, but so far nobody’s spotted you and Cyberlife hasn’t contacted the police about your disappearance either. Speaking of Cyberlife, have they tried to contact you at all?”

Connor shook his head no. It confused him that Cyberlife hadn’t tried to get in touch with him for two weeks. Granted, he didn’t want them to but it was weird that they wouldn’t at least try to. Also, nobody had tried to contact him for two weeks. Nobody from Jericho came by, nor did anybody from the police station. It was radio silence. The android was concerned by this, as Cyberlife used to require him to report in every 3 hours and upload the important memories from that time period. The last time he forgot to check in, Amanda had personally visited him in his internal zen garden. That seemed like so long ago, even though it had only been about a month ago. Connor hadn’t been activated that long ago, so he supposed it was a long time ago to him.

“Well, that’s probably better that they don’t try to. I wouldn’t imagine how they would react if they found out that you were a deviant.” It wouldn’t be pretty, that’s for sure. Hank knew that they would want to ‘deactivate’ Connor and probably replace him like they had done previously. Though, this time, they wouldn’t upload his memories most likely. The Connor that he knew, the Connor that he considered a son, would cease to exist. That thought frightened Hank more than he’d like to admit.

Hank seemed to become less stressed with knowing that nobody had tried to contact Connor. Since Connor had come to live with him, Hank had found himself drinking a lot less than he used to. In the past two weeks, he had only drunk a little bit each night to try to stave off withdrawal that he knew would hit if he stopped cold turkey. Connor monitored his drinking though and made sure that he didn’t drink more than one drink a night. It was still rough, but he wanted to be there for Connor in ways that he couldn’t if he was drunk. After grabbing dinner that Connor had made for Hank (the lieutenant wasn’t sure where Connor had learned to cook, as he was pretty sure that Cyberlife hadn’t programmed him to be able to) and his one drink, he settled down on the couch again with Connor. The two men sat in comfortable silence, watching some movie from the early 2000s for the rest of the night.

\---

“There is no way in hell that I’m doing that!” Hank yells at Fowler, the man sitting behind his desk with an irritated look on his face.

“You will do this Hank. The FBI is pushing this as a quick solution to the deviancy problem seeing as no other leads have been found, and they have no clue where Markus and the rest of the deviants are.” Fowler glared at the man in front of him. Hank had once been the best detective on the force, but in recent years he was but little of a shell of his previous self. He had tried to understand when Hank’s son had been taken from him, but it had gone on long enough.

“You’re talking about rounding up and  _ killing _ all of the androids, regardless if they’re deviant or not.” Hank’s hands were balled into fists. He knew the FBI would do anything to track down the deviants and smooth over the public’s fears, but this was talking about the extermination of an entire group of people. It was heinous and inexcusable. They would round them all up, even his own son, and kill them. Government sanctioned murder with the help of the one and only Cyberlife.

“They aren’t people Hank, you can’t kill them. They’re just machines, and this is essentially a recall by Cyberlife. They’ll dismantle the models, figure out what the bug was, and then start production again. The FBI will leave us alone again, and then things will go back to normal once the panic calms down. Cyberlife has issued their recall, and the police will be going house to house to collect any androids that are present. Those are our orders, and you are going to follow them.”

Hank’s heart almost stopped. They’re going door-to-door? He knew that people would just hand over their androids, the panic of deviancy and threat of legal action too great to try to hide them. This also meant that he would be visited as well. Connor wasn’t safe at his house anymore, and like hell, he was going to send him into the hornet's nest of Jericho or let Cyberlife get their hands on him again. Hank had to leave with Connor, and quickly before they blocked off areas to search.

“Fuck your orders,” Hank slammed his badge down on the desk, “and tell Perkins to go shove this up his ass while you’re at it. I’m not helping you hunt them down like feral dogs. I quit.” He promptly turns and walks briskly out of the office and out of the police station. He didn’t have time to deal with their shit, he had to protect his son.

\---

Hank had messaged Connor as soon as he got in his car. He didn’t explain much but told the android to start packing essentials only. When Hank pulled into the driveway and went inside, Connor was almost done. He had a go bag packed for Hank that had about a week's worth of clothes, his medication, toiletries, and wallet. He also had a bag packed with some food for Hank, a lighter, and blankets. Connor had also put the bag of dog food near the door and Sumo’s water and food dishes next to it.

“Wow, that’s amazing Connor. That was quick,” Hank marveled. It was only a ten-minute drive from the precinct to his house, but Connor had managed to pack all of this that quickly?

Connor’s cheeks turned a light blue from the praise. “I had predicted that we would need to leave eventually, so I had some of the stuff packed already,” Connor admitted to Hank. It was smart thinking, but Hank felt a bit guilty that Connor had to deal with this on his own. He should have tried to prepare more beforehand, but that was in the past now. What mattered was getting Connor somewhere safe.

“C’ mon, load Sumo’s stuff in the car and get in. I’ll explain what’s going on then.” With that, Connor grabbed Sumo’s stuff and the bag of food. Hank leashed Sumo up, pausing in the kitchen to grab Cole’s picture before heading out. He turned back to look at his house, bidding it and the memories in it a temporary goodbye. He promised that when this was all sorted out, they’d be back.

\---

Hank picked an abandoned house on the edge of town. It would be better to leave Detroit altogether, but they weren’t prepared to do that at the moment. So, they would stay there for a few days while Hank and Connor planned what to do next. When Hank had told Connor what was happening with the police, he was distraught. They were planning on killing all of them. Connor moved the stuff inside of the house while Hank hid the car inside of the abandoned garage. It wasn’t the best place to stay, but it was relatively well maintained and Connor only predicted a 3% chance of the house giving out while they were there as long as they stuck to the first floor. 

It was nightfall by the time the pair was settled in. Connor had set up a makeshift cot for Hank. He wished that he could make a better bed for him, but it was the best that he could do with what was given to him. They were both sitting on the pallet, Hank eating a can of chicken soup that Connor had warmed up for him. Sumo laid across their feet. It was quiet, the slight draft from the window coming into the living room where they were. 

That was until there was a long creak as the front door was opened. “What the hell?” Hank turned to Connor. Connor had made sure to lock the front door. The question of what happened was quickly answered as none other than Markus walked into the living room. Hank jumped to his feet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Wow I really like father-son relationship Connor & Hank and want to write that.  
> Also me: how do you write a healthy father-son relationship?
> 
> Also, for Hank drinking one drink a night. I've seen what alcohol withdrawal can do to somebody, especially somebody like Hank who's pretty much been drunk since his son died. It would be ideal if he could stop completely, but going through withdrawal at that moment wouldn't be wise for him since he wouldn't be able to protect Connor. So, they're trying to get him to drink way less to lessen the withdrawal until he can stop completely.
> 
> Also also, here's my tumblr for anybody interested: https://sideblrlife.tumblr.com/


	4. Update

So, I'm not abandoning this fic! I've just been super busy with college and not having my own computer (I just got my computer back today after getting it worked on). While reading over my plot I realized I've left a lot of plot holes and kinda wrote myself into a corner for the ending. So, instead of just kinda bsing my ending, I'm going to replot and rework this story to make it a lot better. Thank you guys for the patience, and when I finish I'll like the new one to this.


End file.
